Man charged with first-degree murder in Vannewkirk's death

The man accused in the killing of a missing Wilmington woman whose body was found Tuesday in Hampstead was convicted in 1990 of killing his 8-year-old stepdaughter and tossing her body into a Dumpster two years earlier.James Opelton Bradley, 51, was convicted of life in prison for the June 6, 1988, killing of Ivy Gipson.Newspaper stories from the Fayetteville Observer dated June 13, 1988, state Bradley was arrested in Ivy's killing following the discovery of the girl's body in a landfill where the Dumpsters from her trailer park were unloaded. Ivy was reported missing by her mother after Bradley said she hadn't come home from school, the newspaper story states. Searchers looked for the second-grader for three days before Bradley reportedly confessed to her killing, and her body was found, according to the reports. In February 2013, after serving 23 years in prison, Bradley was granted parole by the four-member N.C. Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission."That's not real unusual to see," said Keith Acree, a N.C. Department of Public Safety spokesman.Reductions tend to be more lenient for those sentenced under the Fair Sentencing Act, Acree added. The Fair Sentencing Act, which did not have mandatory minimums, applies to crimes committed before Oct. 1, 1994.Bradley was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the killing of Shannon Rippy Vannewkirk. He is being held in New Hanover County jail under no bond.If Bradley is convicted of Vannewkirk's murder, the minimum sentence under current guidelines will be life in prison without parole. The maximum sentence is the death penalty.On Tuesday, members of the Wilmington Police Department located Vannewkirk's body on a farm in Hampstead that Vannewkirk's employer and friend Steve Mott said Wednesday he was developing to grow vegetables. Vannewkirk had been reported missing April 6.Mott, owner of Mott Roofscaping and Landscaping, said Vannewkirk worked for him for more than a decade and he'd hired Bradley about a year ago. "I was aware that he'd been in prison, and I was aware it was for murder, but he alluded that he'd killed his wife's boyfriend, when actually he killed his stepdaughter," said Mott. Mott described Bradley as talkative and boastful. He said Vannewkirk and Bradley worked together "only a few times." After Vannewkirk disappeared, Bradley still showed up for work, Mott said. The two never discussed Vannewkirk's disappearance beyond when Mott told Bradley about it, he said. Bradley said he hadn't heard anything, Mott said. Bradley worked for Mott up and until "the police gave me some information and told me he was dangerous and I let him go immediately," Mott said. "I'm devastated," he said. Vannewkirk's disappearance prompted a grassroots effort by friends, including several in the film community, to search for her. She worked on a number of productions in Wilmington as a production coordinator and production assistant among other positions, said friend Cindi Castles, who helped in the search for Vannewkirk. "We are at such a loss, we have no idea how this happened," Castles said of the discovery "For three weeks I've driven around with her (missing person) fliers on my passenger seat handing them out wherever I could. It's like Shannon rode with me for three weeks while we were hunting for her. You hope for the best and you just know in your heart that you'll find her eventually."Vannewkirk's brother Shawn Dayton said his family was devastated by the loss, but found comfort in having an answer, inexplicable as it is. "We were thankful to find her. That's just the bottom line. When (not knowing) goes on and on and on, its torture. We were thankful to find her," he said. Few details were released by the Wilmington Police Department during a press conference Wednesday announcing Bradley's arrest and the discovery of the body. Police Chief Ralph Evangelous cautioned that positive identification is pending an autopsy. During his first appearance in court on Wednesday, Bradley, dressed in jailhouse garb and wearing thick eyeglasses, stated he wished to have a public defender appointed to him. District Attorney Ben David said Bradley should continue to be held on no bail because he's previously been convicted of capital murder and his only connection to Wilmington is that he was released from the prison here. In paperwork to request a public defender which Judge Rebecca Blackmore read from during the hearing, Bradley indicated he was indigent and the only property he owned was a 1996 Chevy Tahoe.When he was stopped by police just blocks from his Flint Drive apartment at Shipyard Boulevard and 17th Street and arrested Tuesday night in Vannewkirk's murder he was driving a 2012 Ford Focus, the dispatch logs indicate. The arrest warrant alleges that Bradley killed Vannewkirk on April 5. She was last seen in downtown Wilmington leaving The Husk bar, 31 S. Front St., about 7 p.m. April 5. Surveillance cameras captured her as she entered the Husk at 3 p.m. When she failed the following day to show up for a birthday celebration in her honor, her mother Robert Lewis of Southport reported her missing April 7, according to the police report.